The Eternal Sunshine
by een nihc
Summary: Maybe someday they shall meet again, under the eternal sunshine...Rin x Kakashi
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : Everyone knows Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

This is my very first fanfic. Thanks to the reveiws from kopykat kakashi, chibi-nin-Adara and Crazy Sardines, I finally set my mind to revise the story – correct grammar errors, strengthen the plot and add more dialogues and volume to the story.

* * *

The Eternal Sunshine

"_Maybe someday they shall meet again, under the eternal sunshine..."_

* * *

Chapter 1 

How long had she left Konoha? She asked herself.12 years, maybe. She never thought she would ever come back to Konoha again. This place reminded her of too many memories, both sad and happy, that it became unbearable to continue living there. That was why she left.

Many things have changed since she left. She had changed. She was no longer a naive teenage girl. However, Konoha, the place itself didn't change much. The streets, buildings and scenery still seemed pretty familiar to her and she found her way easily to the Hokage's office. She had gained permission to see the Hokage herself before she came back. And she had not come back for leisure. She had serious matters to attend – she needed medical assistance from the Hokage.

Despite being a medical nin of Konoha herself, she had never met Tsunadae sama in person before. But she had heard many rumours about this legendary Sannin, the greatest healer. Some even said she look like a mere twenty-year-old young women although her real age was tripled. But surely she did not become one of the legendary Sannin and now the Hokage for that reason. If she could not help her, then no one else could.

"The Hokage had asked to see you. You may go in now."

She drew a deep breath before she knocked and opened the door. A blonde lady was sitting behind a desk that was full of piles of documents when she entered the room. The blonde lady frowned while she pushed aside the documents and looked up to her. Her skin was smooth and firm, looking nothing more than twenties.

_So the rumour was true after all._ She thought.

"So, you must be Rin," the Hokage said.

Rin nodded.

"Please have a seat, Rin. How can I help you?"

"I, as a member under the Neutral Medic Ops, was sent by a village, located in the north of the Water Country. There was an outbreak of unknown disease there and thirty of the villagers had died after they got infected by it. The number is still increasing. Therefore I've came to seek assistance from you, Hokage sama in the hope of finding the cure for it."

"Tell me more about it. I need to know all that you knew."

Rin went on with her explanation and they had spent the whole evening discussing about it. By the time, Rin was about to leave the Hokage's office, the day was already drawing to its ends and the last gleams of the sunset were veiled in cloud.

"Just one last thing. I heard that you had left Konoha for long. Did you meet any old friends here?" the Hokage asked just before she stepped out from the office.

Rin halted for a moment before she answered, "No, not yet."

"Anything else, Hokage sama?"

"No, you may go now," the Hokage smiled.

"Thank you."

_Old friends? _She thought with a wry smile. All the people that she cared for had died – her parents, Obito, her sensei... perhaps except for one. Kakashi was the only one who was still alive when she left. She could not bear to lose anymore. She had to leave before she loses him as well. And maybe he knew that too. Maybe that was why he did not ask her to stay.

She was weary that day, too weary to think any further. As soon as she reached her room, she headed straight to take a hot shower and went to bed.

* * *

It was a pleasant morning. The wood around was still veiled in a thin mist. And her hair was waving softly in the morning breeze.

"Forgave me for not visiting you for so long, Obito kun," she whispered as she lay a white daisy in front of a black monument. It was where his name was carved on, along with other "heroes", who died in the honor of Konoha.

_Obito... _it pained her heart whenever she thought of him. He died because of her. He should have lived. He need not die if he did not return to save her. He was the dearest friend that she ever had. She wished she had told him that earlier before it was all too late.

She stood there like a statue for a long time, drowning in her own thoughts. Her mind was so deep in thoughts that she failed to notice someone was watching her silently. When she finally turned to leave, she was stunned by a figure that stood quietly behind her in a distance. That masked face, that silver hair...it was none other than Kakashi.

* * *

A/U: For your information, I would like to portray Rin as a neutral medic nin of the five hidden ninja villages, who travels a lot and attend to anyone who needs medical help regardless of which village the patient came from. I only get the proper term of it thanks to Nezuko, the fanfic author of "It's Nothing" after I read his fic. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

None of them spoke or move. Both stood there as if their heels were nailed to the ground. When the quiet had stretched long enough to be considered to be considered uncomfortable, she decided to walk away. Kakashi reached out his hand to grip her wrist as she walked past him. She tried to dodge but to no avail. Her chunnin level skill was no match to the elite ninja. _I should have known better_, she sighed. She waited for him to speak but it was another long pause. Out of frustration, she finally broke the silence.

"What is it that you want now, Kakashi?"

* * *

He had never expected that they would meet again after all these years. He was a trash, no, worse than a trash. He had abandoned her at the enemies' hand. It was Obito who was determined to head back to save her. He had no good reason to ask her to stay. There was nothing left for her to stay. He knew that was why she left.

_Where had she been all these years? Why came back after all these years?_ Too many questions in his head that he wanted to ask her but he did not know where to begin. She had changed. They both had grown up. She grew her hair long, her features grew mature and she looked great. But somehow his heart told him that the ever cheerful and smiling girl whom he once knew had gone. The girl whom he was holding now was merely a stranger with a familiar face.

What could he say to her? What is it that he wants from her now? He did not know how to answer it.

* * *

She had never expected that she would meet him again after all these years. He had been her teammate, her first crush, the first guy who rejected her love and the one who had hurt her most. Tried as she may, she could never forget him. He had played such a vital part in her life and he will always have a special place in her heart, though she would never let him know this.

_Did he regret of what he did to her? Did he wish that she had never left?_ Too many questions in her head that she wanted to ask him but she did not know where to begin. He had changed. They both had grown up. He had grown much taller than her, his silver hair was thicker and messier but he looked great. Somehow her heart told that the ever arrogant and brooding boy that she once knew had gone. The guy who was holding her now was merely a stranger with a familiar face.

What could she say to him? What is it that he wants from her now? She did not know what else to ask.

* * *

"How were you doing all these years?"

_Why would he care now? He never cared to ask her to stay. He never cared to look for her after she left. He was never there when she needed him most._

"Fine, thank you. Now would you please excuse me? I have important things to do."

She had never talked to him like that before. She could not guess his expression due to the mask that he was wearing but she knew her words had hurt him when he slowly let go of her hand. But she regretted immediately when she watched him leave. She did not meant what she said. She said it because she wanted to hurt him just like how he had hurt her before.

"Wait, I... I did not mean it. I'm sorry."

"I don't blame you. You need not apologize. I deserved it." Kakashi said calmly.

Rin was speechless at his words. The Kakashi whom she knew would never say that to her. "Let's find a place to sit down and talk," she suggested and he did not object the idea. He followed a step behind her quietly until they reached a tea house.

* * *

"So, are you still in the Anbu?" she asked.

"No, I left Anbu six years ago. I'm now a jounin instructor of Gennins."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "Oh, I see. This was news to me." Kakashi and teaching seemed as distance as East and West. She could not figure how the two could pull together. It just didn't fit into the picture.

As if he could read her mind, he rubbed his hand across the back of his neck in slight embarrassment and sighed, "Yeah, I know. I couldn't remember how I ended up teaching those kids but I guess it just happened."

Unable to contain her amusement, she burst into giggles and he too later joined her. Suddenly they both looked ten years younger and the warmth of familiarity started coming back to them.

From there on, they began to sink comfortably in each other company. He told her about his mission with the new team 7 and the major events in Konoha; she told him about her adventure on the road and the people whom she met along the journey as she traveled from country to country.

The initial breakfast was stretched into lunch before they realized that it's time for them to leave. He had to leave for his team's training; she had to leave to see the Hokage and continued their work. They'd promised to meet again before they waved their goodbyes in front of the tea house and splat in opposite directions.

* * *

"Yo, guys." Kakashi was chronically late as usual.

"You're LATE!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at him.

"A gorgeous lady had kidnapped me on my way here," he gave a lame excuse like he always did.

"Liar!"

He grinned under his mask and his visible eye arched in a happy curve. Today there was a little more to it than a mere excuse for being late. And it had made his day.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

They still met each other for lunches and dinners after the day that they first met each other back. Rin even managed to persuade Kakashi to bring her along to the tavern once where the others Jounins frequented.

"Come on, you gotta introduce them to me. I really like to meet them in person after hearing so much from you."

But Kakashi didn't seem to like the idea of it.

"Are you sure you want to go?" he asked warily. "They're really a bunch of idiots."

"Hn... a bunch of idiots huh?" she chuckled.

"Why don't you let me judge it for myself if it's true?" she smiled sweetly and looked him in the eye.

The mask-faced Jounin sweat drop instantly when he saw that smile. It only means one thing: she's going anyway and she's not going to take no as an answer.

Rin smiled a triumphant smile when Kakashi let out a sigh and said reluctantly, "Alright, if you want to go so badly."

* * *

Upon entering, they were greeted with wide grins and whistles from the crowd which consisted of Genma, Raidou, Asuma, Kurenai and Anko. Kakashi frowned slightly at the crowd but Rin only smiled back warmly.

"Yo, Kakashi. What a surprise! Mind introduces us to this lovely lady?" Genma smirked as he jerked up his senbon at the corner of his lips.

"Just call me Rin."

"Rin, what a lovely name for a lovely lady," Genma rose from his seat, took her hand and bend over to press a kiss onto the back of her slim hand. Rin twitched in surprise but she recovered quickly and managed a small smile. Kakashi flinched visibly in protectiveness but before he could react, the other Jounin already sank back to his seat.

_Hn... interesting. She must be someone special huh, Kakashi. Who would've thought the Mr. Cool and Nonchalant will be such protective over a woman._ Genma continued to smirk.

Rin befriend the other Jounins easily and soon found herself drinking and laughing with the group. Kakashi just sat quietly at a corner. He started pulling out his favourite book from his pocket again and appeared absorb in his book although he'd read it for the _n_ time. But if anyone is observant enough, they would see that Kakashi glanced up from his book every now and then, his only visible eye searching for Rin before he dipped his head back to his book.

"Wow, you and Kakashi were teammates!" everyone else seemed surprise to discover it. Kakashi's ears twitched as he heard his name being mentioned. He almost regretted that he'd agreed to bring Rin here in the first place. Another reason why he was reluctant to bring her along.

"So... anything beyond that between you guys?" a tipsy Anko blurted out the ultimate question unexpectedly. Everyone at the table was silent for a few seconds and averted their attention to both Kakashi and Rin. Kakashi frowned but remained stoic as he gaze at Rin, still holding his book in front of him.

"..." Rin paused to muse for a while and returned his gaze. When their eyes met, the tension in Kakashi seemed to cease and his elegant brow relaxed back to its normal curve. He nodded to Rin as a gesture to encourage her to speak.

"Well...you know, it's kind of complicated," Rin paused and observed the facial expressions on each Jounin's face. They were all leaning in with wide eyes and attentive ears when her eyes suddenly lit up with a mischievous glee as she continued, "Therefore that's for you to discover and for us to know." Thus the cat finally out of the bag. She cupped her mouth and laughed heartily while Kakashi simply chuckled behind his book.

"Hey, that's it? That's no fun. You still haven't answered the question!"

Rin and Kakashi exchange another knowing glance and smiled. There's the tacit agreement between them that their relationship was something more than just best friends but they're never lovers. True, they did care deeply for each other more than anyone else, but it did not mean that they got to be together. They'd both came to realize that it was best to stay the way they were.

"Arg... come on. There's gotta be something more than that..." Anko persisted but Kakashi simply shrugged and snapped his book close before he slipped it back into his pocket.

"Sorry, guys but I think it's time for us to leave now. Rin has an early appointment with the Hokage tomorrow, right?" he turned to face Rin.

"Gomen, I'm afraid that's true. Next time I promise to stay longer. Nice to meet you guys anyway." Rin smiled and bowed apologetically to the group before she left with the silver haired Jounin.

"Heh... that's pretty sly. I bet they had been dating for a while," Genma tossed his senbon up and down in his mouth and the rest nodded in unanimous.

"Wait, Rin... come back here. I haven't finished yet." Anko babbled and waved her hand in the air before she collapsed to the table.

"Great, who's going to take her home now?" Kurenai sighed and glanced at her male comrades.

"What? Don't you look at me like that. I have a mission tomorrow." Genma quickly cut her off.

"Me too. I'm going with Genma tomorrow." Raido pulled an innocent "can't-help-it" expression.

"Arg... men are really undependable." Kurenai growled.

"I'll walk both you and Anko home tonight then. Besides I have no mission tomorrow." Asuma offered casually.

"Thanks," Kurenai broke into a smile while Genma and Raido exchanged a knowing glance and started to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Both Genma and Raido replied in union and burst to laugh again.

"Whatever..." Kurenai rolled her eyes and began to sling Anko's arm around her shoulder for support. Asuma rose to help her dragged the barely conscious Anko and out of the tavern.

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

However they began to meet each other less and lesser when Rin decided to dedicate most of her time doing the research and experiment on the unknown disease. She even skipped meals and stayed up late at night in the lab for that.

"How long have you been staying in the lab?" Kakashi asked worriedly as he scrutinized Rin. And he was obviously not happy with what he saw. The glow in her eyes was no more but replaced by a pair of dull and reddish eyes with deepening dark circles instead.

"This isn't healthy. You need to go out and breathe some fresh air once in a while." He grasped her arm to drag her outside but she was too stubborn to listen and let alone obeyed to his words.

"The people were waiting for me. I am their only hope. And each passing day was a suffering for them. They could not wait for long. All haste is needed," with that, she wrenched it away.

Rin was like that. She always places herself last in her priority. She was too kind to others, sometimes to the point of being cruel to herself. Kakashi knew her too well. He hates it when she did that to herself. And he hates it even more when he could not help her.

* * *

One night, Rin was staying up late in the lab alone. Suddenly she yelled, "I've got it! I've got it!" She was overjoyed by her discovery on the root cause of the disease. It was an important breakthrough in order to produce the cure for it. She was about to run to tell the good news but she fainted on the corridor.

* * *

"Please wake up, Rin, please..." she heard a distant voice whispered. Her eyes fluttered open but she blinked a few times as they adjusted with the sudden blinding whiteness surrounded her before she realized she was lying on a bed in a white room.

"What happened? Where am I?" she asked fatiguely.

"You have fainted on the corridor two days ago. You are now in the ward of Konoha Hospital. How are you feeling now?"

She shifted her head to the side and saw a worried face of Kakashi's. Then she suddenly twitched as if she was struck by lighting bolt. Her breath misted over the oxygen mask as her lips moved to mutter some words. Kakashi helped her to remove the oxygen mask and leaned over to listen to her words.

She breathed heavily as she spoke, "Tell the Hokage that I've found the root cause of that disease..."

Kakashi nodded and said, "You have to rest. Let me handled the rest."

She closed her eyes and did what he said, knowing that she could always count on him.

* * *

The Hokage had called for Kakashi before he left Rin's ward.

"Kakashi, I have a good news and a bad news for you. The good news is Rin's discovery is a breakthrough to find the cure for the disease." Tsunadae paused for a while. Kakashi immediately had a bad feeling of what the Hokage was going to say. He could almost guess it and he was afraid that what he feared would become reality.

"And the bad news is... Rin got infected by the virus." She continued with a rather leveled voice despite knowing fully well that he would get it bad. She was a Hokage after all and although she felt sorry for them, she was expected to remain calm under all circumstances.

_Damn... _Kakashi shut his eyes tight for a moment. "Surely she can be cured soon, right?" he knew it was a lame question but he only wanted to hear the answer "yes" for his question even if it was a lie.

But all he heard was "We'll try our best," from the Hokage.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A week had passed and Rin's condition was turning from bad to worse. No one was allowed to enter Rin's ward except the Hokage herself and Shizune. Kakashi could only watch her through the glass window in front of the ward. His heart tightened when he saw her lying lifelessly on the bed. Her eyes shut tightly and her face was pale without the colour of blood.

"How long can she hold on?" Kakashi asked when the Hokage stepped out from Rin's ward.

"Not more than three days. I'm sorry." She answered with a heavy heart.

_Why? Why must it be Rin? She had always put others' need before her own but what did she get?_ Kakashi hit the wall behind the Hokage with his fist in anger. He almost hit her but she said nothing and left him alone.

He did not leave Rin's side for the next two days and he had forced himself to stay awake with the soldier pill. Many old memories had came back to him as his mind wandered further and further back to those days when they were in team 7, before the war started and ripped everything way.

* * *

It all seemed like it just happened yesterday. He remembered one particular afternoon when Obito, Rin and himself were lying leisurely on the grass, watching the clouds above after they had finished one of their D rank mission.

"Hmm... I wonder who we will become when we grow up one day," Rin said.

"I'll become a jounin and make my family and my clan proud of me," Obito declared loudly with a silly grin on his face. Kakashi frowned in annoyance while Rin smiled and said, "And I wish I'll become a medical nin, so that I can save people's life."

"What about you, Kakashi?" Obito asked.

Kakashi did not answer the question.

"Che... I'm not interested to know either," Obito pulled a ghost face at him and looked away.

"Baka... "

"Who exactly are you referring to?" Obito retorted.

"Hey, when'll you two stop that?" Rin interrupted.

"He started it first," Obito said in an angry tone.

At last, Rin had to play the peace maker between them by saying, "Okay, no matter what happens, we'll always stay together as team 7." Then she looked at both of them and asked, "Promise?"

"Yeah, promise." Obito gave in while Kakashi merely nodded his head.

* * *

Suddenly he heard Shizune called him, "Kakashi... Rin has awakened and she asked for you." He snapped back to reality instantly and hurried into Rin's room.

She knew her time was drawing near but she decided to hide her grief. She smiled and tried her best to sound as cheerful as she can as she greeted him, "Yo, haven't seen you for a while," when he entered the room. Kakashi said nothing but gazed at her knowingly. Nothing escapes the eyes of Kakashi's.

"Kakashi, I... I just wish to see you smile again," she confessed as if she was a kid being caught for doing mischief.

"I know," he said as his gaze softened.

_Doesn't she know that he can never be angry with her no matter what she said or did?_

He held her hand tenderly and sat by her side. Her hand felt so cold in his palm. So he wrapped it with both hands instead. Those words were more than enough for them. They just took comfort in each other company in silence and let time slipped away like sand between fingers.

Rin's eye lids began to felt like lead and she knew it was time. As she struggled to hold her last glance on Kakashi's face, she murmured, "I've always love you." A faint but contented smile crept to her lips as she closed her eyes and never woke again.

* * *

Times goes by and life goes on. He chose not to remember how he had lived through the day when Rin was gone forever. What is a man supposed to do when the last precious people in his life left for good forever? He did the most rational thing – gritted his teeth and moved on with life. Every morning, he still lingered long in front of the black monument. This time, there was one more name on it – Rin.

The vaccine was later produced successfully by the Hokage and he had asked to deliver it himself to the village. He knew that was what Rin meant him to do. Maybe someday they shall meet again, under the eternal sunshine... but not yet. He turned and left to meet his team on the bridge as usual.

"You're LATE, Kakashi sensei!"

At least he still had **this **team 7. He was sure that Rin would agree with him too.

* * *


End file.
